Guaranty Insurance Services Acquires Calif. Agency

Austin, Texas-based Guaranty Insurance Services Inc. announced the acquisition of Walter Mortensen Insurance of Bakersfield, Calif. This move doubles the agency’s size in California.

With eight offices in California’s Central Valley, 100 employees and annual revenues of $13.5 million, the addition of Walter Mortensen Insurance (WMI) is significant, the company said.

“WMI was founded in 1919 and has an outstanding reputation in the markets it serves,” said Hal Shults, president and CEO of Guaranty Insurance Services, “together we will be able to offer more extensive insurance and financial services to our clients in the California market, complemented by the banking and lending operations of our parent, Guaranty Bank.”

This acquisition is Guaranty Insurance’s largest acquisition to date and another step in a growth trend by the agency in both Texas and California. In February 2002, Guaranty Insurance bought James Econn and Company Insurance of Los Angeles. In February 2004, Guaranty acquired TCT Insurance Group, one of the largest agencies in the in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex.

“The partnership with Guaranty Insurance Services Inc. affords our agency the resources to expand our marketing abilities and provide additional services to our clients,” said Ron Burcham, president and CEO of WMI, “most importantly, we are dealing with a partner that has the same business philosophy that we have implemented to build our agency over the past 86 years

Guaranty Insurance Services currently operates offices in seven Texas cities and in the greater Los Angeles area. Its core business includes retail property and casualty insurance, risk management, investment brokerage, and life and health insurance.